Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Also Read: Mass Readings for 30 August 2026
First Reading: Jeremiah 20: 7-9
If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. (9)
Yesterday, the 29th of August, the Church marked the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, the last Prophet before Christ the Messiah. Similar to Jeremiah, a great Prophet of the Old Testament, he too was murdered for the Truth. We also see here in the first reading today that both these great prophets stood for the truth even to the point of death!
The Weeping Prophet (as he is referred to), Jeremiah prophesies doom and destruction to the Israelites. “Because the people have forsaken me, and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah have known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.” (Jer 19:4-5) and the naming of Pashhur as “Terror all around” (Jer 20:1-3). Here Jeremiah proclaims the Israelites’ sins, – the reason for their doom!
Today, let us not harden our hearts when we hear the voice in the wilderness. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 63: 2-6, 8-9
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. (3) When I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night. (6) Alleluia, Amen!
Second Reading: Romans 12: 1-2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. (2)
We must make this verse a prayer that we can keep repeating in our daily lives. We ask the Lord to renew our minds so that we grasp the will of our Father! We ask the Lord for His Holy Spirit to direct our thoughts and words! In each moment we are faced with what is good and acceptable and perfect; let us be open to recognizing it! In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Alleluia: Ephesians 1: 17-18
Alleluia Alleluia!! I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what the hope to which he has called you is, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints. Alleluia!
Gospel: Matthew 16: 21-27
For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? (26)
“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.” (27)
The gospel words today resound through history, as many great men have been led to conversion by listening to them – one of them was our patron Saint, St. Francis Xavier! We ask ourselves this question today: what will we gain when we gain the whole world but lose our soul? Let us reflect and respond in loving embrace of the one who died for us! In Jesus’ name, Amen!
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